The Mutual Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs has been launched for providing 60 per cent guarantee coverage by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC) to Member Lending Institutions for credit facility up to Rs.100 crore sanctioned to eligible MSMEs for purchase of equipment and machinery, the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the Rajya Sabha that in order to be eligible for this scheme, MSMEs should have a valid Udyam Registration Number and should not be an NPA with any lender. Besides, the minimum cost of equipment and machinery is 75 per cent of the project cost.

The scheme is being implemented by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC), a wholly owned company of the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance. The member lending institution (MLI) will sanction loans to eligible borrowers and then submit details of the loan account on the portal of the NCGTC along with payment of fees, whereupon the MLI will get a confirmation of the loan being guaranteed under the scheme, the minister said.

Scheduled Commercial Banks, All India Financial Institutions, and Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) will be the eligible MLIs under the Scheme, subject to the execution of an agreement by them with the NCGTC.

The minister also said that various measures pertaining to direct taxes have been undertaken recently by the government for reducing the compliance burden for smaller businesses and individual tax payers. These include provisions for presumptive taxation for businesses, provisions for tax audits for businesses, and rationalisation of tax deducted at source (TDS) rates under various provisions of the Income Tax Act.

The new Income-tax Bill 2025 proposes to make the direct tax provisions concise, lucid, easy to read and understand. Redundant provisions have been eliminated and the drafting style of the new Bill is straightforward and clear for the ease of doing business, he added.